Ram Nath Kovind, Meira Kumar in contest, election begins for India’s next President

India’s elected MLAs and MPs will vote to elect the next President on Monday.
BJP-led NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind appears to have the advantage against his opponent Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha Speaker and the opposition’s nominee.
The voting will be held between 10am and 5pm. Paper ballots will be used in the presidential election and the votes will be valid only if the special violet ink pen is used to vote.
The electoral college of the presidential election comprises 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs with a total vote value of 10,98,903 — 549,408 for 543 Lok Sabha and 233 Rajya Sabha parliamentarians, and 549,495 for 4,120 legislators in state assemblies.
The halfway mark is expected to be 549,442, but that will depend on the number of valid votes.
Kovind is expected to garner more than 70% of the votes as the NDA enjoys a brute majority in the Lok Sabha and in also 17 states.